Dropped Sugar Cookies

Mom has lots of cookie recipes. I found this sugar cookie recipe and was intrigued by the fact that the cookies were not rolled and cut with a cookie cutter. Also, the use of sour cream seemed interesting. These cookies were delicious. The sour cream gave the cookies just a touch of tartness to balance out the sugar.

The dough is very sticky and thick. When dropping these cookies, I needed to use one spoon to scoop the dough and one spoon to push it off the spoon. The cookies did not spread too much and stays in the basic shape that they are dropped. I used regular sugar to sprinkle, but you could use brown sugar or a courser sugar for slightly different flavor.

Dropped Sugar Cookies 

• 2 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour, soda, and salt together. Beat the butter, sugar, and eggs with a mixer for three minutes. Stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture gradually beating after each addition to make soft dough. Drop by spoon two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Pound Cake

Mom's recipe box is filled with many cake recipes. Recently, I have been looking through them for easy cakes to make on a weekend and enjoy throughout the week. I found this one to fit the bill. The resulting cake was a bit lighter than most pound cakes, but delicious nonetheless.

This recipe calls for ingredients that you probably have around the house, which makes it easy to make even if you haven't planned on making a cake. The recipe calls for a tube pan, but I used a bundt pan. You can use just about any size pan, but just adjust the baking time as needed.

Cinnamon Pound Cake 

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Cream butter and 2 cups sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Sift together flour and baking powder; add to creamed mix alternating with the milk. Grease a 10-inch tube pan. Pour half the batter into the pan. Mix together the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Cover batter with the cinnamon sugar. Cover with the remaining batter. Bake at 350 for one hour. Allow to fully cool in the pan. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cake

Does adding oatmeal to cake make the cake healthier? I don't know, but this cake is delicious, so if it is slightly healthier because of the oatmeal, it is all the better. I found this recipe in Mom's recipe box. While I do not specifically remember this cake, I am not surprised to find this recipe. Mom always tried out new recipes and would often try out recipes that had healthier ingredients, such as oatmeal.

In this cake, by pre-cooking the oatmeal, it really softens and blends in such that the oatmeal is hardly noticeable. For the topping, I used sliced almonds. I really enjoy almond and cinnamon flavor combinations, so this worked well for the cake. The use of both brown sugar and white sugar results in a darker and moister cake. I highly recommend this cake.

Oatmeal Cake 

• 1 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

For the topping:

• 6 Tbsp. soft butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup nuts or coconut

Cook the oats in the boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cream together the butter, eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar. Blend in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Spread the batter in a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. While the cake is baking, blend together the topping ingredients. Remove cake from oven and spread the topping over the cake. Bake for 15 minutes longer. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Ginger Milk

Chicago's Chinatown has many options for eating, but a few months back MDS and I tried a most unlikely place: the basement food court of Richland Center located on Wentworth north of Cermak. This food court has a wide variety of treats available from about a dozen vendors, with many uncommon food options. We tried a few and will have to go back to try more.

One vendor that stood out was Hello Jasmine, which has creative drinks and good food. Hello Jasmine offers a variety of teas and bobas, but we tried and loved the Ginger Milk. I always love hot chocolate on a cold day, but now I have added Ginger Milk into the cold day rotation. Ginger Milk is so easy to make, but it never had occurred to me to add ginger and sugar to hot milk. It could not be easier to make.

Ginger Milk

For each serving, heat one cup of milk, one teaspoon of ginger, and one tablespoon of sugar until the milk begins to foam. Enjoy!

Lemon Nut Bread

I found this recipe in Mom's recipe box. I usually see lemon paired with poppy, but this recipe calls for lemon paired with pecan, which I thought would be an interesting combination. This recipe did not disappoint. The lemon was delicious and the pecans added a nice touch.

This recipe calls for a loaf pan, but you could just as easily make muffins and adjust the baking time. When I made this recipe, I did not have any lemon rind on hand, so I left it out. I just used some packaged lemon juice. I suppose the recipe might be better using fresh lemon juice and rind, but sometimes convenience wins over fresh fruit.

Lemon Nut Bread 

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 tsp grated lemon rind
• 3/4 cup chopped pecan

Heat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add alternating with milk to creamed butter; mixing well with each addition. Stir in lemon juice and rind; mix well. Fold in nuts. Pour into greased and floured 9x5 loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Pear Muffins

Muffins are a nice treat, especially fresh out of the oven on a cold winter day. This recipe is not a standard muffin that you will find at a bakery or grocery store. I found this recipe in Mom's recipe box. Although I don't specifically remember Mom making these muffins, I love these flavors so I had to give them a try.

These muffins use fresh pear and cinnamon for a unique and delicious flavor. The soft muffin with the crunchy topping makes these muffins easy to eat. The recipe is even somewhat healthier than most recipes because the recipe includes oats.

Cinnamon Pear Muffins 

• 1 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. soft butter
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chopped pear
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg

Combine oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Remove 2 1/2 cups to large bowl. Combine soft butter with the remaining oatmeal mix and set aside. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt into the oatmeal mix in large bowl, mixing well. Stir in chopped pear. Combine milk, oil, and egg. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Spoon into 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Sprinkle reserved oatmeal mix over batter. Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies

This recipe is not a family recipe, but rather was requested by my brother Chris. So I made these cookies, inspired by a recipe that appeared in the New York Times. These cookies are so delicious. It is hard to eat just one. Like all shortbread cookies, these are delicately sweet and just crunchy enough.

This recipe does require that the dough be refrigerated, so they are easy to make ahead and the dough can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. The original recipe calls for demerara, which is a type of partially refined brown sugar. I used turbinado sugar, which I think is close enough. For the chocolate chunks, I just roughly chopped dark chocolate candy bars. But you could use just about any chocolate you might prefer.

Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies 

• 2 1/4 sticks butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 ounces chocolate, chopped
• 1 egg, beated
• Turbinado sugar for coating
• sea salt for sprinkling

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until it is light and fluffy. Slowly add the flour and mix until just blended. Add in the chocolate chunks. If necessary, knead the dough with your hands to fully incorporate the flour. Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap over the dough and roll the dough into a log of about two inches in diameter. Chill for two hours.

Preheat the over to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Brush the outside of each dough log with the beaten egg. Roll the log int eh turbinado sugar to fully coat the outside of the log. Use a serrated knife to slice one-half inch rounds. Place on the cookie sheets about one inch apart. Sprinkle the cookies with the sea salt. Bake for about 12 minutes until the edges just begin to brown. Cool the cookies on a wire rack. Enjoy!